posted 06. November 200604:26 AM
I think I can answer the question about Islam...

Jack Chick has a publishing company that publishes books as well as his famous tracts. His company published a book on Masonry by an alleged former Mason who claims that Masons practice a combination of Baphomet worship and Islamic mysticism.

I had the misfortune of coming across this book when one of my best friends from high school used it as a resource in a paper written for English class. (Her topic was the Masons.) I became angry, since my grandfather is a Shriner, and also because I noticed the Chick Publishing logo. I tried to explain that Jack Chick and anything associated with him are not reliable sources, but it didn't help.
Posts: 885 | From: Florida | Registered: May 2004
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posted 06. November 200604:31 PM
At least Classic Fang (tm) shows up in Unwelcome Guest, but only in a painting. (He's not dead, is he? Tell me he's not dead!) I really think Fang should get his own comic. "Are you saved, boy? Who's a saved little doggie? Whooooooooo's saved? You are, that's right, you're my saved little doggie!"

And in Who Loves You, Chick reveals that Jesus is black! Although his throne seems to be rainbow. Hmmmmm . . . .

quote:Originally posted by MapleLeaf: Where did the one panel about Islam come in? I know that Chick would consider it to be blasphemy, but we were talking about Masonry...and then all of a sudden ISLAM!

quote:Originally posted by MapleLeaf: Where did the one panel about Islam come in? I know that Chick would consider it to be blasphemy, but we were talking about Masonry...and then all of a sudden ISLAM!

I liked his take on Islam

quote:Islam and Christianity have nothing in common. And yet...

Yeah, jack, nothing in common...except that whole Abrahamic history, Old Testament, world began with Adam and Eve thing.

--------------------"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." - G.K. ChestertonPosts: 1514 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by MapleLeaf: Where did the one panel about Islam come in? I know that Chick would consider it to be blasphemy, but we were talking about Masonry...and then all of a sudden ISLAM!

That guy swearing on the Koran wasn't supposed to be a generic Muslim. It was a shriner. Shriners are a subgroup of masons, and they have a distinct arab/middle east/arabian nights theme going on. Their shriner symbols do look similar to the Islamic crescent, and they sometimes call their masonic temples mosques. All shriners are masons, but not all masons are shriners.

So is it actually affiliated with Islam? They say no, but who knows. Since its a quasi-mystical secret club (and a fairly silly one at that), it wouldn't exactly be shocking if they did in fact swear on a Koran in one of their rituals. But only a shriner would really know. Given all their symbolism, its certainly not too far of a leap for Chick to make that connection.
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posted 07. November 200603:26 AM
I have a feeling most Masonic rituals are rather silly, not unlike fraternity initiations. My grandfather claims one involved drinking out of a skull, but I think he was teasing me. I was the one who brought up the subject, and he's the type of person who thinks it's funny to pull people's legs like that.

I did used to think Shriners was a religion as a little kid, but that was just from the name.
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posted 07. November 200603:44 PM
Question for you Snopesters who happen to be Masons: does Jack Chick owe you a new keyboard, oxygen, or some aspirin to soothe your splitting sides? Also, I thought that the Shriners were a spoof of the Masons.

posted 07. November 200604:27 PM
I agree on the fraternity organizations and silly rituals- most of which are highly exaggerated outside their own circles. Growing up I was a Theta Rho girl, which is the young women's branch of the Odd Fellows. There were all sorts of rumors among the girls about what the men did in THEIR initiations and such, since we all knew a bit about the Rebeckahs (the women's organization) but rarely came in contact with the Odd Fellows themselves. Supposedly there was a human skeleton in the attic that they had to swear an oath upon and all sorts of wild ideas.

We had our own silliness... passwords to be spoken through sliding grates in the doors, voting on girls to be permitted in via a box with white and black marbles (no girl was ever actually "black balled" in memory) hand signs to enter and exit when a meeting was in session... a long initiation ceremony with a tableaux about Rebeckah finding Moses in the rushes, specific ways in which the room was to be travelled (no passing between the altar and the President, for example) and a whole ritual book which was followed to the letter with contests to memorize long sections of the text.

--------------------"There is a race between mankind and the universe. Mankind is trying to build bigger, better, faster, and more foolproof machines. The universe is trying to build bigger, better, and faster fools. So far the universe is winning." -Albert EinsteinPosts: 1058 | From: Yakima, WA | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted 07. November 200605:40 PM
I've always compared my fraternity initiation experience to going on one of the dark rides at Disneyland, only interactive. One of the guys in my fraternity was a Mason at a very young age (his dad was one, hence he got in before he was even 20), and said the ritual, symbols, and rhetoric were all very similar between the fraternity and the masons.

Without revealing too much, and putting myself at risk of getting my throat slashed (wink), the ritual was about going on a journey to make one's self a better person with very heavy Catholic undertones. Not too many of us took it very seriously. We weren't irreverant with it, but it didn't exactly dictate our normal day to day lives. I guess our whole thing was that we usually did the initiation in a church, and stood by the statement that nothing happens in the ritual that would make any of our mothers upset.

Now pardon me while I step out side to speak in tongues and bow down to the crescent moon. I mean.. Um... Harmless!! It's all harmless!!

quote:Originally posted by Filet o' Spamamander:There were all sorts of rumors among the girls about what the men did in THEIR initiations and such, since we all knew a bit about the Rebeckahs (the women's organization) but rarely came in contact with the Odd Fellows themselves. Supposedly there was a human skeleton in the attic that they had to swear an oath upon and all sorts of wild ideas.

One of our local Oddfellows societies just donated a casket to the Museum of Funeral Customs (see, we're not just about Lincoln!), and there was a human skeleton inside. With the jaw wired so it could move. So I would tend to belive that rumor was true.

posted 09. November 200607:22 PM
To people who spout the silliness about Masons, I point out that:

1. The Shriners' Children's Hospital make the lame walk.2. The Templar Eye Foundation makes the blind see.3. The Scottish Rite Speech & Language Clinics make the dumb speak.4. Other Masonic bodies feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned.

Who then is doing His work on Earth? "By your fruits ye shall know them."

posted 10. November 200612:52 AM
Well I most certainly don't represent any deities, so I can call Masons as silly as I want.

There are plenty of wonderful secular charities out there that aren't quasi-mystical secret knowledge fraternities. I strongly question that Masonry is the most efficient charitable system. Its a club where people hang out, be one of the guys, and make up nonsense rituals and secrets. People can and do have organizations with all the charity and/or social opportunities without wasting any of the effort on the mystical nonsense.

Even among the religions, most of the major ones have numerous charities associated with them, and since at least some of them make incompatible claims, at least some (if not all) of them are bearing good fruits (along with bad) despite being bogus.
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posted 11. November 200603:52 PM
I was a Rainbow Girl (a "young ladies" branch of Masons, the adult women becoming part of the Order of the Eastern Star). We had our meetings at Masonic Lodges. Didn't come across any skulls or daggers. I did come across boredom after a few years, so I never did make it to "Grand Poobah".

Spamamander's description of Theta Rho Girls sounds very much like Rainbow Girls. You must turn and pivot on corners when walking about the room, secret hand signals, way more religious crap than I needed (hell, I was already going to Catholic school, why did I need more preaching in my off time?!), secret knocks, yadda yadda yadda.

posted 12. November 200604:37 AM
In the local county fair parade we always tried to have a better looking float than the Rainbows or the Job's Daughters (another offshoot young women's organization I believe having Masonry roots) 'cause the Theta Rhos were cooler.

--------------------"There is a race between mankind and the universe. Mankind is trying to build bigger, better, faster, and more foolproof machines. The universe is trying to build bigger, better, and faster fools. So far the universe is winning." -Albert EinsteinPosts: 1058 | From: Yakima, WA | Registered: Dec 2005
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